157,489

That's how many miles my little trusty 2000 Plymouth Neon had on it when I said good-bye on Sunday.  Sigh.  We were tired of the "three car shuffle" in our drive way and God certainly ordained the timing and the sale of the car.  It was a good time to say good-bye.

I bought this car (well, it was purchased for me) in May of 2000 with a mere 17 miles on the odometer.  We've come a long way baby!  All those glorious miles are mine and boy I have been a few places in this car.

It made a few trips from New Mexico to Nebraska while I was in my senior year of college.  I put on a few hundred miles to cover a soccer game and then go see my cousin get married.  Then there was that trek out to Yellowstone the day after I graduated from college (I got stopped in Cheyenne, WY for going 80 in a 75 - drove away with a warning well taken).  I explored the national park for six weeks, encountered a buffalo, and drove back to NM.  Of course there are the commuter treks back and forth from Los Lunas to Albuquerque to work, visit friends and family, and more over the years as I lived and worked in the Albuquerque area.  Of course, there were a few trips to Lake City, CO where a Neon has ventured into places no Neon should probably ever venture.  I think it had a SUV complex.  No worries - there were no scratches or mud where there shouldn't be any.  There were many a random trip around the state of New Mexico for this or that and to visit a campus here and there.  The summer of 2004 had to be one of my favorites - I drove from Albuquerque, NM to Ocean City, NJ and back, with side trips from New York on up into New Hampshire (and a slight detour into Maine because I missed my turn.  It turned out for the best because I then got to explore some exquisite NH back roads).  All in all that summer I tacked on 7,000 miles by myself.  It was fun...no, it was grand!  In 2006, it was a luggage hauler for the college students that I took down to New Orleans for hurricane relief work.  Of course there was a trip to Arizona (the rest of the time I flew) and now there have been a couple of trips back to New Mexico in the little Neon.  It's been a great car, I tell you what.  Never did it get below 30 miles to the gallon... the best ever was when it got 37 miles to gallon.  WOW.  My fun little stick shift.

So, now I drive the 4-Runner.  It's not bad by any means.  It will be better to get in and out of with a prego belly that will in a matter of months be a baby in a little car seat.  It will be easier to maneuver the automatic with kids in the back, too, as well as deal with traffic during rush hour.  Even today at the doctor I was told my hips and back may do better without having to twist and turn out of the little car that is much lower to the ground than the 4-Runner.  I am not bummed about the 4-Runner, it was more the saying good-bye to what the Neon represented in my life.  It was like the perpetual souvenir of all the places I have been over the last 8 1/2 years.  Now, it is with a family that needs it more than I do now.  It will be trucking across the Valley of the Sun and tacking on more faithful miles.  On the up side, I know the family so maybe I will see glimpses of the Neon from time to time.

The 4-Runner and I will make new adventures... on to my third car in life.

For some reason, the song "Saying Good-bye" from the movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan, keeps running through my head.  Well, only a certain part...

Wanna laugh, wanna cry... it's time for saying good-bye... la la la... la la la... it's time for saying good-bye.

I wasn't around for the final transaction of the sale, which was probably for the best.  I had some things to take care of and then he came to tell me that the Neon was gone and he watched it drive away.  I'm not going lie... I teared up a bit.  I think I will chalk some of it up to being a little more sensitive these days... umm... yeah, that's it. 

Thanks for the memories, little Neon!

How deep? How wide? Is it noisey in here?

"The survey shows religion in America is, indeed, 3,000 miles wide and only three inches deep."
             -D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion, on the findings of a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, in which 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation and 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many   religions can lead to eternal life. (Fox.com 6/24/08)

Which then reminded me of this tidbit of wisdom:

"Waters that make noise are but shallow."
            -John Owen, 17th Century Puritan

Hiccups

I really don't remember the last time I had a real bout of the hiccups.  I do know that it has been several years because they usually make me laugh and sometimes in the midst of the laughter I get a bit frustrated, too, because the NEVER seem to go away.  This fact has made the last few months of pregnancy rather entertaining.  Hiccups have returned.  However, I have yet to have more than three at one time.

I can almost predict when the hiccups will come.  Usually after I have eaten or when I change positions in bed and sometimes sitting up right.  One time I even hiccuped along with the clock as it rang the time - we were in perfect sync on two of the chimes.  I laughed at that!  Must take talent, right?  :)

However, yesterday morning was even more entertaining.  With all of my random hiccups we knew that Little Flower must have them from time to time.  We haven't seen her hop in my belly with them yet as she is still quite small.  Yesterday morning I was laying on our bed reading after Husband went to work.  All of a sudden I saw my stomach hopping more than usual and in a rather rhythmic motion.  I realized that I was watching my little girl bounce with the hiccups.  While that was entertaining in and of itself I then realized she was getting frustrated with them -- which caused her momma to laugh even more.  She was moving all around and still bouncing with the hiccups!  It was really quite a sight and experience.  Obviously, now she is big enough for us to see her hiccup episodes from time to time.

It was funny... maybe you had to be there.

hicc-up!

A Post 9/11 World

While this is a day late... and maybe even a dollar short I couldn't help but ponder our history.  It's interesting how much has changed since September 11, 2001.  Then again, it's interesting to think on how things may be the same or never changed at all.  It's somewhat odd to me to be in an era that has been so duly named, "A post 9/11 world" and everyone knows what that means.  There's no need to figure out if you belong to that title or not -- we all do.

Through all the memorials and radio clips yesterday that brought a lump to my throat, and the words "Let's Roll" from United 93 gave me goosebumps as I drove across the 202 on my way to dinner -- what came to mind was what I was doing that day.  I am sure if you ask anyone they can tell you what they were doing when they heard about the attacks on American soil.  Other generations remember what they were doing when JFK was shot in Texas, others when Americans landed on the moon, and now this present generation is marked with 9/11.

I remember I was working at Applebee's before going on staff with Campus Crusade.  I had worked the late shift the night before so I slept in rather late.  When I did wake up, my normal routine was to go to the computer and check e-mail.  The news page popped up, as usual, and as I saw the first photos of the towers burning just before they fell, I thought this was some hoax.  You know, where people play with Photoshop a little too much and a little too well.  As I clicked through some other pages I realized there was more to this than a hoax.  I went to the TV and was taken by what was happening to our country.  I realized then that I should call my dad as he was working at the air force base.  He was fine but said the base was on lock-down and they would probably be sending non-essential personnel (him) home soon.  However, on the lighter side of things he mentioned that they (the powers that be) had given him a firearm "just in case."  Seems appropriate enough, right?  Until you realize that they gave him the firearm but wouldn't give him ammunition.  HA!  I don't think they realized who they were dealing with there.  My dad used to shoot competitively for the air force back in the day AND he's an avid hunter (who teaches hunter safety).  He knows how to wield a gun, folks.  Like the rest of the country, I was fixed to the TV until it was time to go to work.  I thought they would close the restaurant but they stayed open.  I think we had five people come in that day.  One of my co-workers was frantically trying to get in touch with his family who were supposed to tour the World Trade Center that morning.  Like many other folks, they were providentially delayed and were safe.   We basically watched the news until the store closed.

I remember flying to Mexico about a month after 9/11 for a mission trip only to have many ask if I was afraid to fly and many were quite the "nervous nellies" about the whole thing.  I told them we had to move on with life and get back to normal - whatever normal looked like now - and also assured them that the Lord has our days numbered and we do not know when He might call us home.  It's true.  However, it can be harder to live those word on some days more than others.

Hummm... it's interesting to ponder our thoughts and feelings of that day.

Where were you?